Discount Retail Chain A101 (owned by Turgut Aydın HOLDING is the fifth fastest growing retail company in the world. Their discount retail convenience stores, whose average footprint is 250 square meters, offer everyday low prices; customers don’t have to pay a premium for convenience. This has proven to be a successful strategy for Lidl and Aldi as well. A101 is the largest store retailer in Turkey with over 10,000 company owned stores and 48 regional distribution centers and one E-commerce fulfillment center. Erkan Ceritoğlu, the Director of Sales Operations and Supply Chain at A101, explains that, they don’t keep prices down by relying only on private labeling. A significant portion of A101’s selection is based on products from well-known consumer product companies. They can offer discounted pricing based upon rigorously managing the operating costs and then using their size to get the best prices. Supporting Growth Requires Automated Fulfillment How fast has A101 grown? In the last ten years they have opened more than 10,000 stores! That growth, Mr. Ceritoğlu asserts, would not have been possible or profitable without automated replenishment. “To support this massive speed, we needed a solid replenishment solution in place.” The company’s supply chain planning and automated replenishment solution comes from Solvoyo. SAP / HANA is used as their key enterprise application. At the end of the day, when the stores close, the sales are posted to SAP. Solvoyo uses this store-level sell-through data to automate the replenishment calculations. The next morning, store managers look at their hand-held terminals to see their recommended purchases. The store manager can within strict limits, override an automated purchasing recommendation. The typical store holds more than 1,500 stock keeping units (SKUs), an SKU is a distinct product/packaging configuration. A manager can only change the order for less than 20 SKUs. The overrides are also tracked in the system, and A101 has achieved 99% acceptance rate for these recommendations. Mr. Ceritoğlu explained that fruit and vegetable is harder to plan because spoilage and write-offs lead to lower inventory accuracy in these categories. By noon the same day, the store orders then flow to one of 48 regional warehouses for replenishment. Many stores get daily deliveries. Most of the stores receive 7 shipments per week but some only receive four or five shipments per week because of transportation infrastructure challenges or lower sales. The Solvoyo solution is not just a forecasting and replenishment solution. Accurate fulfillment requires that Solvoyo also understand a number of replenishment constraints. The solution needs to understand what days stores get shipments and the store planogram, how many items of a SKU are allowed on the shelf. Further, Solvoyo’s planning is also dependent on the shipment packaging hierarchy, this SKU ships in a carton containing 4 article items, or perhaps, the SKU cartons make up a layer on a pallet with 16 article items. Solvoyo is an end-to-end planning solution. It does not just generate replenishment at the store level, it understands the cumulative demand regional stores are placing on a warehouse and also generates warehouse-level replenishment orders to the suppliers. In this case, the solution needs to understand supplier lead times and delivery frequencies. Big suppliers can deliver to an A101 warehouse every day. Smaller suppliers, operating out of just one national distribution center (DC), can’t achieve this level of service. Warehouse dock scheduling is not a constraint. “Our DCs work 24 hours a day/7 days a week, there is no labour constraint” Mr. Ceritoğlu explained: “The main constraint is the minimum order quantity.” A product’s minimum order quantity is stored in the SAP application. Over time, the Solvoyo planning footprint has gotten bigger. Currently, Solvoyo is only used to plan the replenishment of nonpromotional items. A101 has been testing the forecast accuracy of Solvoyo around promotional items; this is a much more difficult forecasting challenge. The solution looks at how similar products in the same product category have sold. What kind of results is A101 getting here? “So far so good,” Mr. Ceritoğlu said. The Solvoyo solution really showed its power when COVID hit. “When everything is normal, the system is bullet-proof.” With COVID, the retailer saw demand spikes for 900 SKUs out of the 1600 the retailer carries. Within a week, the Solvoyo solution was automatically adjusting safety stocks to accommodate the demand surges. “We established a diagnostic managerial dashboard,” Mr. Ceritoğlu went on to explain. A team member could enter demand inputs manually where there were sudden peaks in demand. “We secured replenishments to our DCs in large quantities within a week. Solvoyo really supported an agile response during COVID. From April to May, our sales were up more than 50%. Our out-of-stocks only increased 3%, and they were mainly related to supplier issues. There were no empty shelves.” What advice would Mr. Ceritoğlu have for other retailers considering a similar journey? “Solvoyo as a platform is great, but it can not operate as a stand-alone application. You need to design the backbone first.” For A101 that backbone consists of SAP/HANA, their warehouse management system, and Solvoyo. “These solutions work simultaneously and seamlessly together.” COVID Is an Opportunity, Not a Threat What comes next? “Currently I and my team are working on online groceries.” COVID has increased the trend to online ordering and A101, with its large number of stores located close to customers, has a “big opportunity.” Main goals is to use current store footprint for lower last mile delivery costs. The company would need transportation partners and there are e-commerce logistics companies in Turkey with as many as 2,000 vehicles. In addition, the retailer could explore different options; convert some of their stores to dark stores. This are stores that are not open to the public but which become solely focused on fulfilling local orders. They also recognize that e-commerce orders are more expensive. “Some grocery chains lose money on every order,” Mr. Ceritoğlu asserted. A101 will charge a delivery fee. But the company will also work to reduce their costs so that they can lower the delivery fees over time. To do this, the company will “have to invest in technology and automate the picking process in the store.” A101 is constantly testing new technologies at its dark store where they are examining whether a shelf-level image recognition solution could improve store level inventory accuracy. A solution would have cameras on the shelves and understand the store’s planogram. Shelf-level image recognition solutions do not insure perfect inventory accuracy; the solution can see whether a slot is empty or not, but often cannot determine how many items of an SKU are on the shelf. The solutions can’t peer around SKUs on a shelf and see if there are other SKUs behind the items at the front of the shelf The retailer can also look to put limits on what inventory can be used to fulfill an order. “If an item on the shelf drops to 5, we can just choose to not list it” as available for purchase. Solvoyo, which forecasts the velocity of sales, will be able to implement this as a business rule. In addition, the current inventory management solution has the flexibility to quickly accommodate these types of changes in business operations and can adjust the store safety stocks to account for the consumptions due to fulfillment. While the outlook for the global economy and the retail industry in 2020 is uncertain, the outlook for omnichannel retailers that can profitably deliver last mile food & beverage orders looks far brighter. A101 looks to be perfectly positioned. See here for more: World’s Fifth Fastest Growing Retailer Automates Planning (forbes.com)

Variety Discount Retail Chain Flying Tiger's store portfolio is divided in the proportion of 40% street locations and 60% stores operating in shopping centers and malls. Experience shows that these proportions are optimal for us. That is why galleries will always be in the circle of our interests, says Igor Kostenyuk (IK), Country Manager Flying Tiger Copenhagen in an interview with the editors of Retailnet.pl / SCF News What is the state of Flying Tiger Copenhagen after three lockdowns? Igor Kostenyuk: We currently have 45 stores in Poland. We haven't had new ones since 2019, but also, which I consider a success, we didn't have to close any. The last openings were shops in Warsaw in Galeria Młociny and in Centrum Janki. 2020, due to the pandemic, has put our expansion plans on hold. Hopefully 2021 will allow us to further expand the store network. We are currently watching the market closely. Does the pandemic change your location strategy? IK: Our portfolio is divided in the proportion of 40% street locations and 60% stores operating in shopping centers and malls. Experience shows that these proportions are optimal for us. That is why galleries will always be in the circle of our interests. So the direction remains the same. The pandemic has obviously revised our plans, but the market potential for a chain like ours is 80-100 stores. We are therefore at the halfway point of the development of the fixed-line network in Poland. Which of the challenges during the pandemic turned out to be the most difficult for you? IK: The biggest problem, visible especially in the first phase of the pandemic, was a significant decrease in footfall, and thus turnover. The huge fear and immediate change in the behavior of customers who were afraid to leave the house caused the turnover to drop by 50% in March, and in April these drops reached even 90%. In some stores, it happened that we could count customers entering during the day on the fingers of one hand. Street locations, i.e. those that could have been open during lockdowns, did not save this situation at all. Their potential was significantly limited by the restrictions on the limit of people staying in the store. We also have locations in our portfolio where the lack of tourists means no turnover. An example is our store in Krakow. We have a great location at the Main Square. It did not help. The store recorded huge drops. Overcrowded warehouses were another challenge. Each visit to our store is to be a discovery, which is why our offer changes every 2 weeks. These changes are scheduled six months in advance. With 2,500 SKUs. only 700 products are the so-called core assortment available all year round, the rest is 1,800 SKUs is an in and out range, i.e. seasonal - adapted to the campaign, season, holidays and other occasions. As we were unable to sell the goods that had already been ordered, more surpluses accumulated in the warehouses. How did you deal with the stocks? IK: Intensify working with the goods between March and November we ran a series of promotional campaigns with large price reductions. We could also choose many valuable products from overstock, which we donated to charitable foundations with which we cooperate the Dr Clown Foundation and the Anna Dymna Foundation "Mimo Everything". We also managed to sell some of them online using well-known sales platforms. Now we will strengthen the online sales channel, because in the second quarter of 2021 we plan to start our own online store in Poland. The first Flying Tiger Copenhagen online stores were launched on the Scandinavian market, now we want to offer such online shopping opportunities also to Polish customers. At what stage is the preparation for launching the online channel? IK:In 2019, we created a pilot e-commerce solution for our market in Denmark, which was launched in January 2020, and then in June 2020 in Sweden. It is a sales channel with huge potential and awaited by our fans. Therefore, in Poland, we are in the process of implementing operations within the framework of a ready platform. Of course, we are planning an opening campaign, mainly on social media. Thanks to the experience of recent months, we know how important it is for customers to choose from several delivery options - directly to the customer, to parcel machines and with the possibility of collection in stationary stores. We expect great interest from customers also from smaller towns where our stationary stores are not located. The Flying Tiger Copenhagen brand is already so recognizable and liked, that the decision to launch an online store was just a formality. The biggest challenge in the Internet business will be the cost of logistics, because the shopping basket is small usually there are 3-4 products and their value is also not high. The average price of the product is 3-4 euros. However, we are counting on competitive offers from suppliers. It is optimistic that these prices are falling every year as competition increases. How does your cooperation with shopping centers look like in terms of renegotiating lease agreements? IK: We are constantly negotiating the terms of the lease. The market has changed a lot after the pandemic. There has been a very visible transformation in the relationship between tenants and landlords. It is obvious that galleries want to stay as long as possible on yesterday's terms, but we do not have this option. It must be a win-win cooperation. One thing is certain, we can no longer agree to extend the lease for another six months, as was the case after the first lockdown, when the condition for the release from rent was the extension of contracts. What would be the most sensible solution in terms of contracts? IK: In my opinion, we need a solution that gives a certain sense of security for both sides. I propose a flexible and complex rent. The basis would be a lump sum, i.e. the basic monthly fee, and the second component is a percentage of the turnover. What are the first steps you took after the lockdown was lifted? IK: In May, we ran a large marketing campaign under the slogan "It's great to be together". It was an international action for all markets in which we operate. This time we do not see the need to use very aggressive sales actions. We have no worries about the trafficking, because the recent loosening of the lockdown has already shown that queues are forming to our stores. Customer shopping habits have changed and this is our strength. At the moment, two segments are popular premium A-brands and economy brands such as us. See here for more: https://retailnet.pl/2021/02/02/82134-wywiad-igor-kostenyuk-flying-tiger-copenhagen-jestesmy-na-polmetku-rozwoju-sieci-w-polsce/

Discount Retail Chain Pepco (owned by Steinhoff International) is a European discount chain of clothing and household products at low prices. Originally launched in Poland in 2004, since then it has been expanding mainly to countries in Central and Northern Europe. Pepco currently operates in more than 2,100 stores located in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. “We are very excited about the entry of our brand into the Spanish market. Spanish consumers will have the opportunity to visit our stores and we are sure that our products will attract their interest and meet their expectations. In the coming years, we plan to enter a new market every year. FIRST STORES IN SPAIN The opening of the first two Pepco stores is scheduled for next spring. One of them will be located in Castellón and the second in Alicante. In its expansion plan in our country, the company plans to open another 10 stores and employ more than 100 people. It is currently in the process of searching for new commercial locations with an approximate size of 500 to 700 m2, located in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. “Our market strategy is based on building close relationships with clients and partners, following the values ​​of respect, honesty, cooperation, improvement and enthusiasm. For this reason, we want to invite all those who want to join our values ​​and our mission to cooperate, offering consumers the best purchase options at the lowest prices”, says Piotr Kokociński, Operations Manager of Pepco Spain. CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES, TOYS AND HOME The offer of Pepco stores is aimed at the sale of clothing for children, women and men (including underwear and shoes), accessories, toys and household equipment. Today Pepco is one of the largest sellers of children's clothing in Europe thanks to its full range of products for children from 0 to 14 years old. In a single month, its stores receive more than 19 million visitors in Europe. Today, the company employs more than 20,000 people. The brand offers its own training system that meets the needs of employees and supports their development, regardless of position or function. See here for more: https://www.justretail.news/noticias/la-cadena-de-tiendas-pepco-comienza-su-expansion-en-el-mercado-espanol/

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Latvia & Estania (owned by the German Schwarz Gruppe) opens a new logistics center to serve the Baltic states in Rīga. Located at 131 Dzelzavas Street, it will provide future Lidl stores in Latvia and Estonia with goods and products. At the opening of the logistics center Jakob Josefsson, Chairman of the Board of Lidl Latvija and Lidl Eesti said: “Last year was very significant for us—we completed the construction of this modern building and created over 1,200 new jobs throughout Latvia with our recruitment campaign. Opening the logistic center during this substantial global crisis demonstrates our dedication and will send an optimistic signal to our colleagues, future customers and to the society that we can successfully operate in these turbulent times and reach our goals”. Lidl has repeatedly been expected to open stores in Latvia over the years, and now fans of the chain's stack-it-high, sell-it-cheap approach finally have confirmation that store openings must be fairly imminent. Currently, five Lidl store buildings have been constructed - three in Riga, one each in Jēkabpils and Liepāja, though when they will actually open to the public remains unknown. “Commencing operations at this logistics center in Rīga is a very important milestone towards the future Lidl store opening because it is a starting point from where the goods will daily be delivered to Lidl stores in Latvia and later in Estonia to guarantee high-quality products for the best price to our customers,” said Josefsson. In 1973, the first Lidl store opened in Ludwigshafen, Germany and quickly grew into a national chain. During the 1990s, it began opening stores outside of Germany and now operates around 11,200 stores in 32 countries, employing more than 310,000 people globally. See here for more: https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/business/german-retail-giant-lidl-opens-baltic-logistics-center-in-riga.a390219/

Discount Retail Chain Aldi UK (privately owned) is currently testing several ways of selling groceries online. In Great Britain, Aldi (Süd) is currently testing several ways of selling groceries online. One of them is the cooperation with the restaurant food delivery service Deliveroo (see Aldi’s new online grocery expansion will battle for “pole position”), which has been delivering products for cooperation partners to its customers for a long time. "Slightly higher prices" than in the store In Ireland, Aldi and Deliveroo have just announced that they will deliver online purchases with no delivery costs. The campaign is (initially) limited in terms of location and time: Until February 11, customers who live in the vicinity of a participating Aldi store in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick can enjoy it. The Aldi-Blitz purchase, which should be delivered within 30 minutes, is ordered via the Deliveroo app - at "slightly higher prices" than in the store, as the retail chain informs online, "to cover the additional costs". After all, the products have to be picked and made available for collection in the store by the already manageable staff, exactly the opposite, in other words, for which the discount was originally founded. A quarter of all UK markets offer pick-up services In addition, there is a minimum order value of 25 euros (US$30). Their are a lot of rules that on the one hand aim to reduce the complexity of order purchases and probably don't even give customers the idea of ​​letting Deliveroo courier drivers drive through the city with huge shopping carts. (Especially while the shelves of some retail chains remain empty due to Brexit.) Aldi has its own pick-up service (Click & Collect) in England, Wales and Scotland to handle larger online purchases. It was first tested last September (see Aldi click and collect service trialled for first time) and has now been expanded to around 220 stores. This corresponds to almost a quarter of the 900 stores that Aldi has in Great Britain. And it demonstrates the remarkable speed at which the discounter can roll out a new concept if it believes that it could be necessary to continue its growth story in the UK market. Simply shop online The website groceries.aldi.co.uk is also discounted through and through and limited to the bare minimum. But that's very pleasant: After a one-time registration, the user looks for: the store of choice, then shopping can begin immediately. With a simple seven-day overview was shown with one-hour pick-up windows covering the entire day. Mornings and evenings seem to be particularly popular, with the afternoons being the least busy. You can even have your shopping brought directly to your car in the parking lot on Sunday mornings, where parking bays are specially marked for Click & Collect customers. Cost: 4.99 pounds (around US$6). If you want to practice the strictest social distancing, you can even get the bags directly in the trunk if you wish, explains the discount chain. This is an amazing service, especially when you get to the point like the British free newspaper "City A.M.", which reminds its readership of the actual core concept of the discount pioneer: "Aldi offers an offline supermarket experience." The market forces Aldi to act The fact that there is now a little bit more online, happens almost under duress. For a long time, Aldi forced the traditional British supermarket chains to offer their customers high-quality own private label brands at better prices in order to be able to keep up with the challenger from Germany. Corona has ensured that it is now the other way around: While established retail chains benefit from having built up their own online business for the delivery of food over the years, Aldi suddenly saw itself forced to act in order not to lose customers. Competitor Tesco reported an "unprecedented demand" in the food delivery market in the past few days. Over the Christmas season alone, seven million deliveries with 400 million products were made. In the previous quarter and over Christmas into January, sales in the online channel (including Click & Collect) rose by 80 percent to one billion pounds compared to the same period last year. Tesco new CEO promised: "We're in great shape to keep delivering in 2021 and beyond." Competitor Sainsbury’s posted an increase of 128% for its delivery service; 18% of sales over Christmas were achieved with online orders (in the same period last year it was 7%). In the 10 days before the festival, twice as many deliveries were made as in 2019. Aldi delivers Even the most aggressive discounter can no longer simply ignore this. In a YouGov survey of Aldi-affine customers, 68% said that shopping online would make their lives easier. And indeed: The Click & Collect initiative seems to be working. For the four weeks before Christmas, Aldi UK recently reported an increase in sales of 10.6%, to which the new pick-up service also played its part, according to the British trade magazine “Grocer” . See here for more: https://www.supermarktblog.com/2021/01/20/abhol-einkaeufe-und-kostenlos-lieferung-wie-aldi-wider-willen-zum-online-haendler-wird/

Discount Retail Chain DIA Group (listed and owned by LetterOne) achieved net sales of 6,882 million euros (US$8.3Billion) last year, which is practically the same as the 2019 result (6,870 million euros, US$8.3Billion). This emerges from a press release with the preliminary results for 2020. Like-for-like sales (on a like-for-like basis), on the other hand, saw an increase of 7.6%. The owner of the supermarket chain Minipreço with stores in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina generated net sales of 1,688 million euros (US$2.0Billion) in the fourth quarter of 2020. This corresponds to a decrease of 5.6% compared to the previous year, a growth of 6.9% in like-for-like sales. “The positive behavior of comparable sales in the fourth quarter, which continues the trend already observed in the course of 2020, is due to the effects of continuous operational improvements as well as an improved range of fresh products that we are making available to our customers at the moment where they need it most”, quoted Stephan DuCharme, Executive President of Grupo Dia, in the statement. "Spain and Portugal have maintained a positive sales trend, while the strategic rationalization of our branch network with 7% fewer branches per year and the currency effect in Brazil and Argentina influenced the overall performance of the group sales." He explained. In Portugal, the international sales group of Spanish origin recorded net sales of 158 million euros (US$ 192Million) in the last three months of the year, a growth of 7.6% compared to the previous year and an increase in comparable sales of 5.2%. In Spain, the group achieved net sales of 1,143 million euros (US$1.4Billion) in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 9% compared to the previous year and a growth of 10% in comparable sales. Net sales in the Brazilian market amounted to 213 million euros (US$259Million) in the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of 33% compared to the previous year and a growth of like-for-like sales of 6.2%. In Argentina, sales finally came to 174 million euros (US$211Million), a decrease of 36% compared to the previous year and a comparable turnover of 1.6%. Looking ahead, the executive president says the group will intensify efforts to improve the franchise model in developing online capabilities by expanding its private label brand offering and introducing "an interesting new discount business model." See here for more: https://www.hipersuper.pt/2021/01/14/grupo-dia-fecha-2020-vendas-liquidas-e6-882-milhoes-linha-ano-anterior/

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Australia (privatelz owned) opened its first two stores 20 years ago in Sydney and has over 560 stores trading across the country. Part of the Australian grocery fabric When discounter Aldi brought its highly differentiated operating model to Australia on 25 January 2001, many could not have predicted the success that the retailer would have over the next 20 years. Rising to become Australia’s fourth largest grocery retailer and a strong network of stores across six of Australia’s major states and territories. Its every day low price model, Special Buy promotions, strong private label ranges and German efficiency are now a firm part of the Australian grocery landscape. As in other markets it has also done a fantastic job of localising its operations, supporting Australian suppliers and driving innovation tailored to the market. A shift in the competitive landscape As Aldi has grown, Coles, Woolworths and Metcash have all had to adapt and respond to the challenges. Price competition has grown across the market, as has private label brand (see here for more on privatelabel) penetration, as retailers have increased innovation in this area and expanded ranges. Surely the category management teams in charge of Coles in 2001 would not have foreseen its private label brand penetration hitting 30% of sales from low single digits at the time and it launching its own ‘Best Buys’ promotion, a similar bi-weekly promotion to Aldi’s, which it introduced in November 2020. What does the future look like? Aldi has consistently driven double digit growth in Australia since it entered the market and its network expansion plans have also been almost as consistent. Aside from the odd year and when it entered South and Western Australia in 2016/17, it has opened 20-25 stores per year. Although growth has slowed, inevitably, as the network matures (it only opened 18 stores last year), we expect growth to remain ahead of the market for the foreseeable future. With estimated revenue of AU$11.0bn (US$8.4 Bn) at the end of 2022 and over 560 stores and significant net income, the retailer is expected to have over 600 stores by 2022 based on our forecasts. Aldi could still also enter new states in the market, although its focus will remain in the major conurbations. It will continue to grow its market share and with Aldi launching online grocery services in several markets, it would not be a huge surprise if we also see this happen in Australia. Next to the market development in Australia the Aldi Australia operation is leading and financing the expansion of Aldi in China. See here for more: https://retailanalysis.igd.com/news/news-article/t/aldi-australia-reaches-20th-anniversary-milestone/i/27546

Listed Russian retailer O'Key's (owner of the DA! discount retail chain) net retail revenue in Q4 2020 increased by 6.0% yoy to RUB 48,939 million (US$ 647million) mainly due to an increase in net retail revenue of the group's comparable stores, as well as the expansion of the retail space of the Da! Discount Retail Chain. Revenue for the group's LFL stores in Q4 2020 increased by 4.2% yoy thanks to the growth of Da! Discounters and hypermarkets "OK". Net retail revenue of the O'Key hypermarket chain in Q4 2020 increased by 1.6% yoy to RUB 41,808 million (US$ 552million) mainly due to a 1.8% yoy increase in LFL revenue. Net retail revenue of the Da! Discounter chain In Q4 2020, it grew by 42.2% YoY to RUB 7,131 million (US$ 94million), mainly driven by an increase in LFL revenue by 23.5% and an expansion of selling space by 15.1% YoY. In accordance with the earlier forecast, in the IV quarter of 2020 the group opened 13 discounters "Da!" (net figure including closings), resulting in 118 stores at the end of 2020. The Group expects discounters to continue to be the main driver of business growth in the future. Key operating indicators for 12M 2020 The group's net retail revenue for 12M 2020 increased by 5.9% yoy to RUB 172,738 million (US$ 2.3 Billion) mainly due to a 5.4% yoy increase in LFL revenue. Net retail revenue of Da! Discounters for 12 months of 2020 increased by 45.3% yoy to RUB 25,950 million (US$ 343 Million) on the back of a 27.8% yoy increase in revenue for comparable stores (LFL) and an expansion of the chain's selling space by 15.8%. At the end of 12 months of 2020, the share of the Da! Discounter chain in the group's total net retail revenue was 15%. Revenue for O'Key LFL stores in 12M 2020 increased by 2.5% yoy, thanks to which the chain's net retail revenue grew by 1.0% yoy to RUB 146,788 million (US$1.9Billion). Sales through the Okay online delivery platform grew by 28.4% YoY in 12M 2020 and accounted for 3.7% of Okay's net retail revenue in Moscow and 2.1% in St. Petersburg. See here for more: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/okey-group-announces-6-0-050004459.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFBjWj5MD6qwNEbrDyUGCvYLwhNZcFHsK_ROW_DGS7SGvAzST1h8h9rCXUm1bflXtGgiryoXiXeB_JS9hPIOl7f16vTaUSm7o7MgVv_EXI1kFbMb2UyfwEwLwsIUNRD3FM7vo77H0cVSHV4wQjn5rtbicgfYXWJQaH9DzZ60amt-

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Italy has reached the milestone of 100 stores in Italy. The retailer is now present in six regions of northern Italy: Trentino-Alto Adige, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, employing over 2,000 workers between its stores, offices, and logistics centres, located in Oppeano and Landriano. Priority Market Aldi reached the 100 store mark by averaging three store openings a month, since March 2018. Michael Gscheidlinger, country managing director at Aldi Italia, said "Italy is a priority market where we will continue to invest consistently". Gscheidlinger added that the stores "have presented Italian consumers with a discount offer that comprises quality, freshness, convenience, and also responsibility." The stores are located in strategic areas of northern Italy, where, depending on the needs of local consumers, the most suitable store format is selected, with sizes ranging from 600 square metres and 1,500 square metres. Aldi also offers a large number of SKUs bearing a Made in Italy certification. Sustainability Equipped with photovoltaic panels covering a total surface area of ​​over 24,000 square metres, the equivalent of 3.5 football fields, the 100 stores have produced over 3 million kWh of green energy, saving 1,758 tons of CO2. Some 65 charging stations for electric vehicles are also available across the store estate, as set out in the group's sustainability commitments. See here for more:"https://www.esmmagazine.com/retail/aldi-opens-100th-store-italy-120129

Discount Retail Chain Netto (owned by Danish Salling Group) is now taking the next step, after joining the Alliance for Development and Climate Foundation last year, and has been climate-neutral since the beginning of 2021, which means a special position in discount. On the one hand, greenhouse gas emissions were avoided or reduced wherever possible through a variety of measures. The remaining emissions are recorded and offset. In this way, Netto makes an important contribution to climate protection in Germany and to stopping global warming. "Netto has been intensifying its efforts in the area of ​​sustainability for some time now. It is therefore only logical for us to take the decisive step now and orient our company towards climate neutrality." says Netto CEO Ingo Panknin. Netto achieved a significant reduction in CO2 emissions through numerous measures: the extensive use of Euro Pool reusable boxes for fruit and vegetables, extensive use of trucks with liquefied gas (LNG) or the support of flowering meadows for more insects and colorful flowers are here mentioned as an example. The sustainability commitment of Netto is of course also evident in the product range: More than 400 items are supplied by regional suppliers, which means that 20% of Netto products are manufactured in the federal states in which they are also sold. Thanks to the short delivery routes, we not only save CO2 emissions, but also strengthen the local economy. Many products in the Netto range have also been awarded sustainability seals such as Fairtrade, UTZ, MSC, FSC for wood and paper products, the Rainforest Alliance seal of approval for sustainable agriculture or the European organic seal. In addition, the plastic reduction strategy for Netto private labels and our fruit and vegetable articles is being pushed forward. In addition, Netto of course pays attention to the use of sustainable materials. For example, wood and paper from sustainable sources are used in the interior design of the branches or in the printing of advertising brochures. In addition, more than 80% of Netto markets donate food that is no longer salable but flawless to local organizations such as the food banks. See here for more: https://www.fruchtportal.de/artikel/netto-stavenhagen-handelt-klimaneutral/047712?i=1d4208f5

In 2021, discount retail chain Lidl Poland (owned by the German Schwarz Gruppe) wants to spend PLN 1.5 billion (US$400Mn) on the development of the store network. This is 50% more than in the previous year, according to the information from "Rzeczpospolita". Discounter Lidl will start building a new distribution center in spring. Aleksandra Robaszkiewicz, spokeswoman for Lidl Polska, told Rzeczpospolita that the first deliveries from the new warehouse to stores will start in the first half of 2022. Ultimately, over 200 people will find work. Andrzej Porębski, a member of the management board of Lidl Polska, said that Lidl's 12th distribution center in Dobroszyce will supply stores located mainly in the Dolnośląskie Voivodeship. Lidl in Poland currently has almost 760 stores. In 2020, the chain was enlarged by 38 discounters. See here for more: https://www.wiadomoscihandlowe.pl/artykul/lidl-polska-planuje-rekordowe-inwestycje-na-2021-rok?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJVelpqWXhaVGd4WlRBeiIsInQiOiJlWGF2ZXBXREkrM1wvTGFBa1ZGdFpreWlIejREQk9sY1YwXC8zajB5VlZFU3Q2cDRadElFZlVPQ240cklhY3J0R1RcL3A1TkJxSzJ5Y0hGanF2bU9oRXZlXC9zMUpYQ2hoS3JUMWhJYmErdWZNT091azRaUXNhTmphaXpLSlNjVzhNXC9lIn0%3D

The UK’s 10 leading supermarket chains collectively sold 900,000 tonnes of plastic packaging in 2019, a figure which has gone up by 1.2% since 2017, despite having plastic reduction targets in place. The third annual plastics survey conducted by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace UK described the supermarket chains as “treading water” in the fight against mounting plastic pollution. The total weight of plastics sold in 2019 was equivalent to 90 Eiffel Towers, the report said. The survey also ranked the top 10 supermarkets on the efforts they were making to reduce plastic pollution. Of the five largest UK supermarkets by market share, discount retail chain Aldi ranked first, followed by Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, more than 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, and at least 8 million tonnes end up in the oceans. The Independent would like to keep you informed about offers, events and updates by email, please tick the box if you would like to be contacted Christina Dixon, of EIA, said: “In our third year of looking at plastic packaging in UK supermarkets, we had hoped to see a much sharper downwards trajectory as strategies and targets bear fruit. “Instead, we are looking at a relatively static picture which represents a drop in the ocean of tackling plastic pollution. The sector urgently needs to pick up the pace of plastic reduction.” The survey also revealed the ban on free plastic bags still meant significant amounts of heavy duty plastic bags were being sold by supermarkets. More than 1.5 billion plastic “bags for life” were issued in 2019, a 4.5% increase over 2018. This represents almost 57 bags per UK household during the year. But the number of single-use plastic carrier bags issued fell by 33% and several supermarkets have stopped selling them entirely. Water bottles are a considerable problem, the research found, with 2.5 billion plastic water bottles sold or given away in UK supermarkets in 2019. Ms Dixon said: “Supermarket targets and reduction efforts are primarily focused on own-brand plastic packaging, which makes sense as they have more direct control over the supply chain. “However, this means that the amount of packaging used for popular branded goods is not reducing and we’d like to see supermarkets increasingly taking the fight to the big manufacturers and compelling them in turn to drive down their own plastic footprints. “This can be achieved through sourcing policies that reflect packaging reduction requirements and the phasing out of problematic plastics, working with brands to test alternatives and, ultimately, pledges to de-list suppliers which will not comply.” A key recommendation of the report was for supermarkets to come up with plans for increasing reusable and refillable packaging and delivery systems, both in-store and online, as a way to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging. Nina Schrank, senior plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “Supermarkets have assured their customers that they share their concerns on plastic waste, but we need to see far more ambition than this from the sector if we’re going to even start to turn the tide on plastic pollution. “All supermarkets should follow Sainsbury’s, and now discounter Aldi, in committing to reduce plastic packaging by 50% by 2025, at the very least. How these commitments are met is also crucial. Half of that reduction should come from reuse and refill systems, so we can ensure that packaging stays in those systems and out of the environment.” The report warned that the growth in online shopping due to the coronavirus pandemic should be seen as a major opportunity to ramp up reuse systems, such as doorstep deliveries of reusable containers which can be picked up, washed and refilled before being sent out again an innovation put into practice by Tesco and its partnership with Loop. The report’s authors urged the government to introduce legally binding targets as well as compulsory reporting of companies’ plastic use, in order to reduce the use of single-use plastic overall and incentivise retailers to introduce reuse and refill systems. Meanwhile, businesses, MPs, faith leaders, academics and campaigning organisations are also calling on Boris Johnson to introduce legally binding targets to stem the growing tide of plastic pollution. An amendment set to be debated for inclusion in the Environment Bill is calling for legally binding plastics reduction targets to be included. In a letter to the prime minister, the group says that while government initiatives such as the ban on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds have had positive impacts, a more overarching approach is needed to deal with the problem. Friends of the Earth plastic campaigner Camilla Zerr said: “Despite the introduction of a few welcome measures, the government must go much further to stem the rising tide of plastic pollution pouring into our environment. “Boris Johnson has a golden opportunity to get to grips with the crisis by ensuring that the Environment Bill contains legally binding targets for reducing the amount of plastic waste polluting our planet every year “The government has promised to be a world leader on the environment and set a gold standard for cutting down on plastic waste. Now it’s time to deliver.” See here for more: https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/supermarkets-plastic-waste-uk-pollution-b1792350.html